Like I said, I hope he can find one who'll do it on a contingency basis. IF an attorney agrees to do that, he's got a pretty good chance of getting a decent settlement from it because they aren't gonna take the case unless there's a very good possibility of winning a substantial amount. 

It's possible....... Civil law is pretty iffy. Could go either way depending on the jury.

Since the victim was leaving when it happened, where he was will be important too.
Was he on the sidewalk outside the bar, or was he in the doorway/foyer/etc....?!

But did it really have anything directly to do with the bar, and are they really even partially
responsible? And their insurance company is probably going to be pushing hard for no liability
on their part......... 

So yeah, circumstances ARE everything in that case!

Sorry, haven't been around for a while. Just saw this thread.

The perp can be charged with 1st degree Misdemeanor  "Battery".
FL law is different from MO (where I did 2 decades of law enforcement) and a little weird.....
It's not Felony Battery unless the guy has a prior related conviction, or Agg Assault (a Felony)
because FL law says "with intent" to commit a felony OR "uses a deadly weapon".
Even IF your friend DID have some kind of confrontation with the guy, when perp struck him
in the back of the head as he was leaving, it pretty much negates any defense......
unless perp says your friend said he was going to go get a weapon and kill him, in which case he 'might'
get off with a self-defense plea.
I hope no-one gives the douche-rocket any ideas like that in defending his actions!!!!

Anyway, 'douche-perp' is PROBABLY out of luck in his "job with the county" aspirations. Most government agencies
prefer employees without a history of violence....... much less drunken violence.......

Now civil law is COMPLETELY different from criminal law. Your friend's injuries were absolutely
caused by the perp and don't have to be "intentional". Your friend can TRY to go after the parents,
but unless the perp is a "minor" under FL law, it won't fly. From what you said he's an adult,
so he's responsible for himself. Same with the bar. Civil law is notoriously screwed up, so he CAN sue the
bar, but it's not going to get anywhere.......... probably. You can file a civil lawsuit against most anyone
for any reason, but to get a jury or a judge to grant you a settlement, it needs to have substance.

Going after the parents or the bar is pretty lame. I know the guy got injured and has bills, but he needs
to go after the real cause and not those on the periphery just because they have money. 

Good luck to your friend. I hope he finds a lawyer who will work on a contingency AND that 'douche-perp'
ends up paying him a bunch of money......... even if it's in installments!!!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   
DISCLAIMER - the preceding is simply theoretical musing and should not be construed as actual advice.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[trx]

That was a heck of a delayed laugh trx....... 1 year and 4 mos.      

They are made by Bridgestone under the Dayton logo.
I've used them on a number of vehicles. The tire wear was not up to par with Yokohama and Michelin, but they work well and are very reasonably priced by comparison. 
I just found 4 LT305-70R-16 Goodyear Wrangler MT tires for my F150 for $300 mounted and balanced that are almost new (they were takeoffs from a truck that blew an engine and tranny). Comparable new ones are at LEAST twice that much, so the price he was quoted for the Timberlines sounds pretty good.
 

Has anyone had any experience with a repair shop in Tallahassee? I need a recommendation about who to see for a check up and replacement CV joint boot on my Prairie 400 4x4.
I just moved to Talley this Summer and don't know any ATV'ers down here to ask advice from.
Thanks in advance.                      -Jim

[Keys]

Water spouts are pretty cool. Never saw one in person..... thanks for the pics Keys!
Yep Alba Rider, we had our share of tornadoes in Missouri too. Last one thru my home state (May 2008, the month before I moved to FL) was a 3 on the Enhanced Fujita-Pearson (EF) scale. Fortunately barely one percent of all tornadoes are rated a 4 or 5! 
Guess moving down here we traded them for hurricanes tho, huh?
 

[I'd say tell your friend to bargain hard on the price and get it down to a more reasonable figure!]

I got my 2001 4x4 Lariat Supercab for $6500 this last Summer. I'm not particularly a Ford fan but it was the best price. It has Flowmasters and oversized tires, but doesn't have 37's on it...... then again my wife also doesn't need a ladder to get into it either.... 



I'd say tell your friend to bargain hard on the price and get it down to a more reasonable figure!  

[I don't care who ya are, that's funny right there.......]

I don't care who ya are, that's funny right there....... (with apologies to Larry)

What happened, couldn't he get any good weed out in Cali?   

But seriously, violence by children is absolutely something that needs to be dealt with quickly. And too many parents let their kids get away with too much.
Years of police work demonstrated to me what too many of those kinds of kids grow up to be. 
But Zero Tolerance policies in schools seem like a cop-out too. It keeps them from having to make much of an effort to find out what happened or deal intelligently with complex interaction situations. It mandates certain responses to situations and removes the responsibility to cognitively process issues. It's more like 'Zero Thought'. But the instigators seem to get away with violating the policy because unless there's a teacher right on top of the situation or the victim takes action it is difficult to substantiate an incident. And even if your child is simply defending themselves, they are considered equally guilty of 'fighting'............ and I've been there a couple times myself, in the Principal's Office telling them if they maintain and/or foster a dangerous environment for my daughter/nephew which causes them to be injured with their "Fight Free Schools" policy, I'd be bringing civil and criminal charges against them. 
I also asked the Principal about self-defense and he hem-hawed around in true liberal fashion.  I said "so if I vaulted this desk and started beating the #%$& out of you, you shouldn't be allowed to defend yourself? You wouldn't want someone else to physically intervene to protect you? You could be beaten to death before even the School Resource Officer gets here, much less the city cops."
Apparently he didn't like 'hypothetical' questions..... 
He didn't want to admit he is denying our kids those same basic rights he takes for granted for himself. The fact that I'm a cop didn't mean anything in that situation, because at that time I was a parent.
Anyway, my daughter knows how to defend herself, and that she has my permission to do so..... and we'll deal with the consequences together. 

kids in the bathroom smoking up the weed.

Oh man, I just graduated from highschoo, and every time I went in the bathroom last year a select few would be in there all hours. Sure enough they were smoking weed, and rolling dice betting money. I swear these 4 or 5 kids went to maybe an hour of class a day, lunch.


The worst part, they graduated in my class...

Just know, there is a big difference from graduating IN your class and WITH your class.  You = college and opportunity.  Them = low end job and that is it.   I will say that I have known people who have casual use of the product that are very capable, but if it sounds like these are dedicated users.

There ya go, Ren. But we all need SOMEONE at the grill and the drive-up window of the local Burger Dump.....
Unfortunately you probably don't want to eat anything they've been handling..... 
so it's a conundrum........

I agree that proper discipline is the key.....
If a kid is acting out, just take them for a little ride in the car and have a private 'talk' with them about their negative behavior...

[But we are ATV'ers, so if we downsize we still have to be able to haul our OHVs to the Motoplex........]

Speaking of the gas crunch and smaller cars, here's a couple sporty models:


and even a mini 4WD crossover:

These are supposedly the smallest street legal cars in the world:
the single seat P50
and the multi-passenger 'whatever this is':

But we are ATV'ers, so if we downsize we still have to be able to haul our OHVs to the Motoplex........

[Dave]

Just trying to catch up to your 'post count' Dave.............
it's gonna take a while.....

I got such a late start.

Only 807 more to go! 

I moved down here from Missouri, where I was a single parent and worked for the Univ of MO (No. 6 AP ranked 'Mizzou Tigers' - Big 12 North Division Champs) Police Dept. I didn't even watch a single football game. They were 12 and 2 in regular season last year, both losses to the Oklahoma Sooners (ranked No. 4 AP)........

But anyway, I married a lady who works at FSU and now I have to pretend like I'm rooting for the Noles. Looks like they got their a$$ handed to them by U of F last year, so I imagine this year people will be losing their minds come November 29th.   
Well, maybe now that I'm retired I'll actually have the TIME to follow sports.........

Speaking of "Gators", do you think they'll pick a team from the Big 12 for the Gator Bowl this season? 

This means I'm writing in Huckabee.......................   

We get a lot of rain over here but not the hurricanes. Fay gave us 13 inches according to local sources.
Looks like FL dodged the big bullet on Hanna, but still has to worry about Ike, huh?! They're pointing him right at the Keys scheduled to arrive early next week, but predicting only Cat 2............... but it also probably means he'll end up moving across the Gulf and into New Orleans.

Yeah I checked out the Motoplex on-line. It looks like fun.
My favorite riding back home in MO was on federal property by the Mark Twain National Forest that was an abandoned mine complex. The feds closed it up due to ATV injuries a few years ago tho.
From what I can tell by researching fed websites on Apalachicola they tightened up the access (restricted OHVs to marked trails) but you can still ride there as long as you have a FL registration sticker. There will always be some people who don't like rec vehicles riding on public lands, but I just smile and say "Don't waste your breath whining at me.... this is legal. Call your legislator if you need to complain to someone. That's what he gets paid for."
They seldom do, because it's inconvenient. Most people only gripe at whoever is easily accessible............ 
I'll check them all out as time goes by, the Motoplex, Apalachicola, Tate's Hell, Ocala, Croom, and maybe after I've been here a while I'll meet some folks with private land to ride?! 
Well, thanks again for the info.

I figured as much........... 

You mean, after dark, right!?!       


 

[DMM]

Do you like long walks on the beach.

Uh, sorry dude, my wife's the jealous type........... 


But seriously DMM, I understand Apalachicola is still open for ATVs, isn't it. I'm pretty close to the NF. 
And there's also Tate's Hell down South, right?!

[they]

Every once in a while when I'm not planning to go very fast I don't wear my helmet, but never fear...... if some maniac hammers me at 50 mph and I become a quadriplegic veggie I will be a ward of the military and/or the VA...... oh wait, they still use your tax dollars don't they.......
Uh, never mind........ 

But seriously folks, in FL they don't require helmets for street bikes but they require adults to wear seatbelts..... doesn't make sense to me.   
Although I have to say despite the seatbelt law in MO I never wrote a seatbelt ticket to an adult in 13 years on road patrol. Now if their children were un-belted, they went home with a handful of citations!!!! 
Statistics show over 50% of injuries and deaths from ATV use are to those under 16, so they absolutely should be required to have protective gear. The total rate of injury on ATVs according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (in 2005) was about 1.7 per 100 riders.  Adult injury on ATVs is about half that, and over 40% percent of those occurred on paved roads, so as danger goes, the risk is minimal, especially if you ride responsibly out in the boonies. If you're planning to get crazy then by all means put on a helmet!   
These kinds of debates have always been very divisive. How one person's behavior affects another is a serious consideration; as is how far should it go before mandates are established........
Even though I was a cop, and maybe because I was a cop, I really don't want the government in my personal business for the most part!!
Just my
 

Thanks guys!!! 
About me:   I retired from the Army in the 1980's with a service-connected disability. I got a Bachelor's degree and worked for the state of MO for 17 years and retired early from a Detective Sergeant position with the University of Missouri Police earlier this year. Then I married my college sweetheart (whom I had not seen for 20 years until 2007) and moved to FL with her (she's been here for 20 years, she works for FSU).   
Right now I have a 400 Prairie 4x4 and a vintage black Arthur Fulmer AF2 helmet I don't always wear. I don't do any racing or (much) crazy stuff any more.  Bones that are almost 50 don't heal as fast as they used to.....    I'm partial to Kawasaki's, but have owned other 3 and 4 wheelers, including Hondas and even a Suzuki.  I am going to get a Can-am/Bombardier or Arctic Cat 2 seater (4x4) so I can take the new wife riding with me.
I had another 400 Prairie but it was stolen off the family farm while my parents were using it last year in MO.......
I sold my Honda V-twin street bike a couple years ago and wish I hadn't, but the new wife is happy that I did.
I used to ride dirt bikes but not for a decade or so. 
I fish and metal detect, hunt some and shoot combat competition (I'm a firearms instructor). I collect movies and die-cast vehicles. I read a lot and listen to music as much as possible. 


Anyone still awake?!?   

[Can-Am]

Well, I have to admit I been using computers since they were an abacus made out of rocks..........so I'm only a Nu-B to THIS forum Can-Am.  I've been around the block and back on a few others, and the posting process is always similar........
Thanks for the welcome folks, and TRX, just let me know where it begins and I'll be there  . BTW, I looked up the Motoplex on Hike Lake Rd in Madison, I assume that's the one you are referring to VF(and that big daddy so 'colorfully' characterized in the sidebar of Reply #83).
After all I was a cop, renmus, so I'm used to jumpin' right in the middle of shiznit...............   

http://www.myspace.com/cybercop106

[VFDave]

Well thanks for the welcome VFDave. Being new to FL I sure am interested in doing some riding down here. Know any guides for the Apalachicola NF?!
I'm a retired cop (from MO), so that might put some folks off but I'm also a service-connected disabled-retired Army vet from back in the Lebanon conflict era so I'm not a 'complete' stick-in-the-mud.........